Growing up during the Cultural Revolution, my dad learned to grab everything he could.

Ever since he immigrated to earn his Ph.D., he has stopped at nothing to pursue his passion for
medical research. His long list of projects, from AI diagnosis techniques to CRSPR gene editing,
has got attention from the New York Times, Washington Post, and 60 Minutes.
Meanwhile, my dad never took an active role in my life. Our relationship was
businesslike. But I always respected and admired his work ethic and scientific research—until
recently.
Last year, university audits uncovered possible ethical violations, and the FDA
subsequently investigated all of his research. They uncovered human subject violations and
prompted an FBI investigation into all aspects of my dad’s life. It discovered ties with the
Chinese government; connections with high ranking officials and alleged conflicts of interest
with biotech companies. In July of 2019, he resigned from his physician-researcher role at
UCSD. He made the decision to leave America and continue his research in China.
While his work has unethical aspects, many of his clinical applications were successful.
Like many other researchers, he fell into the trap of constantly seeking publishable results while
disregarding the process to get there. His drive contributed to his problems.
I believe my dad never intended to hurt anyone, but he lacked patience and wanted
publishable results.
Emotionally, I didn’t feel much strain. From an early age my dad was distant and we
never connected beyond our mutual love for science. It was tough seeing him leave but I also had
a weird feeling of calmness. I always suspected that his work would eventually catch up with
him and he added unneeded stressed and anxiety to my life. So I was, in a way, already mentally
prepared.
Pragmatically, I was busy with junior year finals, CIF swimming championships, and
applications to summer internships. I didn’t dwell on the implications but did take a step back
and consider ethical implications of the projects I’ve completed.
During my work in the lab, we performed tests on fellow researchers and friends. But,
protections were in place to ensure we never knew the identity of the patient.
At Stanford this summer, my mentors stressed that after converting blood cells into
IPSC’s that the name be removed and called line X. This ensured we would never know
someone’s personal identity—crucial when you are testing the resiliency of cardiomyocytes
(indicator of heart health).
Bottom line: At Stanford, and at any lab, the results should be tested and revealed in a
way that doesn’t reveal their identity. Developing lifesaving tests improves patient prognosis and
diagnosis but needs to be strictly performed following ethical guidelines. You are delivering
potentially life altering news and a patient deserves to have their results in a secure way.
Through watching an unhappy man go through an awful experience, I’ve pulled away a
lesson in ethics. Plagiarism lessons in school, aren’t cursory but crucial ethical and pragmatic
principles. Every career has ethical dilemmas, as it’s a subjective and theoretical concept. With
no fundamental difference in scientific and personal ethics, it is ultimately up to the individual to
adhere to a moral compass in both.
An Harvard MD-PHD, a lifetime’s worth of accolades, and a comfortable life never
fulfilled my father. He’s another brilliant man that forgot to appreciate his experiences and lost
touch with the people around him.
 I wish the best for my dad’s new life in China. Although I haven’t spoken to him much
about the allegations, I hope he finds his priorities and will be just as successful with strong
ethics as he was with looser ones. I also wish that he becomes less obsessed with success and
more attentive to personal relationships.
As a fellow scientist I don’t respect some of my dad’s actions, but, as his son, nothing
will ever surpass my desire for our long-awaited father-son relationship.